Attack of the Fifty Foot Bunny!

My garden was plagued last year!

By the Fifty Foot Bunny!!!

Okay, so yeah, that is an exaggeration...
But not by much!

My husband saw the bunny the other day.  It's as big as my cat.  Which doesn't mean much until you see my cat.  She's a Maine Coon mix and weighs about 16 pounds.

Last summer the giant bunny ate my kohlrabis and nibbled on just about every other plant in my garden.  This year I'm trying my hand at growing some bunny favorties; kohlrabi, lettuce, cabbage, carrots and spinach.  Now I just have to try to figure out a way to keep this monstrous rabbit from eating the food right off my table.

Last year I tried spreading cat scat around at the whole in my neighbors yard where I knew the rabbit entered my yard.  Didn't scare this thing.  It plays chicken with my neighbors very vocal Min Pin.

We also shaved this fuzzy girl in the backyard.  It really looked like a cat exploded.  Did nothing to deter this brazen bunny!

I found this recipe.  I might give it a try.  I'll just have to make sure I wash things really well before I eat them.  Since I don't like spicy food!  This could cause some funny reactions.  My toddler really enjoys eating yellow pear tomatoes fresh from the garden!

Red cayenne, Jalapeno or habanera fresh peppers can be used in the preparation, but be careful if you use habanera because the capsaicin concentration is high enough to cause serious damage to the preparer! Jalapenos should be hot enough to keep the bunnies away. The quickest way to come up with a concoction is to take three fresh peppers and run them through a food processor with enough water added to create a liquid. Pour the liquid through a cheesecloth mesh into a glass quart jar. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive or other vegetable oil, a squirt of Elmer’s glue and a drop or two of liquid dishwashing detergent. Use one part of the concentration to 10 parts water. Shake well just before application. This should discourage the bunnies without hurting them. If not, then make the concentration stronger, to 30 percent, or just go up to the cayenne pepper for extra heat. Be sure to reapply after new growth appears or after a good rain.

Who needs pots or store bought vanilla!?!

In my ongoing quest to become a DIY homegrowing Diva, I decided to start my own seedlings this year.  My problem was I don't have a lot of money to invest in items to grow said seedlings.  I needed pots to start my seedlings. 

Or so I thought!

Hello my best friend or my arch nemesis (this is yet to be decided), Pinterest!

Here's what I found.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/18/ad/b7/18adb7540fd998c5e5f9177f575350b2.jpg

Newspaper!!  I have lots of newspaper!!!  I get three each week!

I rolled my paper around some glass jars I had.  I won't lie.  It's rather tedious.  I got a little more careless with each one I rolled.  I don't look forward to rolling more as I have lots more plants to start, but I LOVE the price.

Here's what mine look like now, about a week after I planted them.

 I've got lots of baby plants!  Using paper pots hasn't appeared to have impaired my growth at all.  I don't know how they kept their pots so round in the original photo. 

You can also see a slight oranging around the edges of the newspaper on the originals.  Mine have more orange around the edges.  I used an orange sharpie to label the paper pots.  However, none of my writing has run and it's below the spots where the paper is turning orange so I think the two are unrelated. 

More updates to come on newspaper pots. 


My other project...vanilla!

DIY Natural is another site I frequent.  I get their update emails.  Last winter I got a post about making your own vanilla.  I thought this would have been a great Christmas gift, but I didn't get it in time.  You see, it takes a couple months to, I don't know the right word, ferment (maybe that's the right word.)

My vanilla was started on 2/20.  I had the beans and my neighbor had the vodka.  Which is a great

way to reduce costs when you're overhauling yourself into a DIY Homegrowing Diva, find a partner in crime!  Sure I won't get all the vanilla, but what if it turned out to be nasty!  Not that I think it will, because here we are less than a month later.

I sliced the length of the beans.  That took some care and my fingers smelled like vanilla for a day or two after.  Not a bad scent to carry around!  When I initially put the beans into the bottle and smelled the concoction I would say that it was 98% vodka and 2% vanilla.  I just took a sniff after taking the picture today and I would change those numbers to  roughly 40% vodka and 60% vanilla. 

I really don't think this is going to turn out badly!  It's so hard to wait!  Every time I shake the bottle I want to make something with a delicious vanilla flavor!

DIY Natural broke down the cost of making your own vanilla.  It's insanely cheaper and not very difficult to make your own.  I doubt I'll ever be buying vanilla again. 

How does your garden grow?

This entry is ideas for what to do with my garden once it grows!  Hopefully, it grows and I can make delicious things with my produce!

Cilantro
Husband likes this in his salsa.  I've got tomatoes and jalapenos on the list, so hopefully, we'll have some good salsa.

Sweet Basil & Oregano
I want to make my own spaghetti sauce.  So why not use some fresh herbs?

Dill
Can't have dill pickles without dill!

Thyme
Husband has acne.  I want to try this homemade astringent to see how it compares to store bought products.

Black Zucchini
I just adore zucchini bread.  I also have a recipe floating around this house somewhere for a nice light summer salad with zucchini and white whine vinegar.  Boy LOVED it last summer.

White Kohlrabi
Husband swears this is some crazy German vegetable, but whatever!  I'm German and I love some sliced kohlrabi sprinkled with a bit of salt.

Purple Kohlrabi
I've never had a purple one before.  Something fun to try! 

Purple Dragon Carrot
This just looked too cool, not to try!  A friend of mine wants to see how this would look in carrot cake.  I can't wait to find out!  There will be a post about this! I really hope these grow well!!

Rainbow Blend Carrots
Yellow, orange, red and purple.  These will add color to our salads, coleslaw, spaghetti sauce and veggie platters!  Plus, the more color variety you have in your diet, the more nutrients you consume!

Edamame
I was introduced to edamame by my father in law.  I thought eating soybeans was kind of odd, but it's a tasty and healthy snack.

Peas
I really like frozen peas.  I bet I'll like the even more when they come fresh from my garden!

Pickling Cucumbers
I don't like cucumbers, but I do LOVE pickles.  I want to give a try at making my own.

Red Cabbage and Green Cabbage
I make a mean coleslaw if I do say so myself!  Plus, adding cabbage to your salad mix gives it more substance; making it more filling and it lasts longer.

Yellow Pear Tomato
Last summer, Boy discovered the joy of eating these little beauties right off the vine!  They are lower in acid and have a lot of flavor.

Prizehead & Oakleaf Lettuce and Spinach
Hello salads!

Red Zebra, Pink Hybrid, Big Boy Hybrid, Roma
Just a couple tomato options.  I'd like to make a variety of tomato products.  Tomato juice, vegetable juice, stewed tomatoes, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato paste.  And anything else that strikes my tomato fancy!

Pumpkins
Bread, pie, ice cream, juice!  Pumpkin anything is just delicious!!!

Spaghetti Squash
A great healthy alternative to spaghetti noodles.  I have trouble eating noodles.  And this is much easier to digest for me than pasta.

Sunflowers
Boy loves sunflower seeds almost as much as his father does.  Plus I can't wait to see the look on Boy's face as he watches them grow.

I'm so excited about all these possibilities and more.  Now if only the rest of my seeds would arrive!!  My smart gardener says it's still a little early to start my seedlings.  But I've been working on making space under a sunny window in my office for them.  If you've got ideas on how to use some of these foods that I haven't thought of, I'm all ears.

Don't be afraid of the ISO

For those of you who don't know, ISO can be explained in a couple ways.

In Search Of

Or

Is Seeking Out

Either way you look at it, the three letters in caps, catch the attention of a person who potentially has something they want to get rid of.

When you want to make changes that require "stuff" and you're on a budget, it can be difficult.  But an ISO post can be your best friend!  Find rummage groups on Facebook.  Post an ad on Craigslist.  Find your local Freecycle.  All of these options are free to post.  With an ISO on Facebook or Craigslist you'll likely have to pay for the "stuff," but on Freecycle, everything is free!

Don't be afraid to post in unlikely spots!  About half an hour from me is a church that hosts a children's rummage twice a year.  I casually commented that I was ISO canning jars.  I said I knew it was a long shot, but I wondered if anyone would be selling canning supplies.  Well, within a day someone contacted me from that post with a what would be a great deal on jars for me.

Here's what I got:                               Retail Price
2 dozen jelly jars (4oz)                       $24.00
1 dozen regular mouth pint jars          $19.99
4 dozen wide mouth pint jars              $83.96
23 wide mouth quart jars                    $57.39
Total                                                  $185.34


For price comparison I searched for prices online.  I'm not even counting all the rings and lids that I got!  Four of those boxes of lids and rings are unopened!  The box of jelly jars is unopened!  All 23 of the quart jars have never been used!

So by posting my ISO add in an unexpected place I saved over $160!!!  I paid $25 fall that entire pile of canning supplies!!!!

Don't be afraid of posting ISOs!! Even if the spot seems like it won't get you what you're looking for!!!

Can I become a DIY Diva?

I've been doing reading and watching things that make me want to be more self sufficient.  Or at least less reliant on commercial items that are lower in quality and more expensive than I can make on my own.  I'm using several blogs and websites to help in this.  I've been DIYing laundry detergent for over two years now.  I have gone through several different recipes, but I've settled on this one for quite some time.  I'll write a blog about that on another day.

I watched season 1 of Alaska: The Last Frontier.  It's about the Kilcher family, who homesteads outside of Homer, Alaska.  They grow, raise and hunt all their food.  They split wood to heat their homes all winter.  And they have no plumbing.  Now I don't want to be that off the grid, but I want to be more responsible for creating my own food.

Recently I came across an article on Facebook.  It discusses the likelihood of weather impacting and raising our food costs.  My family is committed to eliminating our debt and so we live on a pretty tight budget.  My husband didn't get very good student loans.  He graduated about 3.5 years ago and we just paid off his loans!!!  With that said, we want to knock out my student loans next and then we'd love pay off our home in less than 20 years.

My first big project is my garden.  Which leads to another minor project, rain barrels, and a major endeavor....canning!

I was discussing rain barrels with my favorite blogger, Becky over at Week99er.  We were discussing options and ways to do this on a budget.  People often use large 55 gallon drums to make these.  But I wanted something that I could lift the lid off.  So she was helping brain storm ways to do this.  The cheapest I found the drums for was $15 each. Becky suggested I check Instructables.com where I found this tutorial.

I did a search at my favorite local handyman's store where I found 32 gallon garbage cans on sale for $7.99!  Nearly half the price of the drums and given that they aren't bright blue, they won't stand out so much.  And I don't have to do a lot of work to get the lid to open!  Winner, winner, Chicken dinner!!!  My little one helped me fill them with snow when we got home.   Spigots will come later.  For now, we're keeping it simple.

Take 2: Timing is Everything

So my first go at following a master list didn't go to well.  As promised I'm not beating myself up about it. Timing is everything.  Last week was a very atypical week.  My husband took off work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for his birthday.

I didn't get things done on the master list, but I'm not upset about it.  We got a couple other big projects finished.  It was so much easier working together.  We emptied the garage, caulked around the bottom and put things back into the garage in a neat organized fashion.  My van is now parked in the garage.  We got rid of many boxes, a lot of stuff that didn't need to be in the garage and a box spring.  Now we just have to find a new home for our old dryer.  Until that's out of there, Adam's car wont fit in the garage. 

I also got the majority of the tomato plants cleared out of the garden.  I did leave one plant as it hasn't started to wither.  I figure I'll let those tomatoes vine ripen.  I can easily throw one blanket over it to protect it from frost.  While cleaning out the garage, my husband found some old screens.  I was going to sell them online, but I found a wonderful use for them.  Prop them up on some buckets or bricks and I've got racks for all of my green tomatoes to ripen.

So back at it today.  Now if only I can find it!

Hug Your Children

Hug your children just a little longer.
Squeeze them just a little tighter.
Love them just a little stronger.

Why?

Because one day you could be like N.  I've known N most of my life.  She's a part of my family that I'm not related to, they're just family.

N was just a little older than me.  When her little sister and I were in upper elementary, she was in high school and oh so cool.  We wanted to be like N.

N lost her battle with cancer earlier this week.

N has young children.  She won't get to see them on their first day of high school or college.  She won't see them married or their first apartments and homes.  She won't hold her grandchildren.   She won't even see them trick or treat at Halloween or open Christmas presents this year.

So because N cannot hug her children any longer;
Hug your children just a little longer.
Squeeze them just a little tighter.
And love them just a little stronger.